Student's bike ride earns punishment

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- While hundreds of area workers pedaled their way to work last Friday as participants in the national Bike to Work Day, one woman and her son were scolded for breaking the rules.

Janette Kaddo Marino and her son, Adam, 12, wanted to participate in the commuting event, so the two set off to Maple Avenue Middle School on bicycles May 15. The two pedaled the 7 miles from their east side home, riding along a path that extends north from North Broadway straight onto school property.

After they arrived, mother and son were approached first by school security and then school administrators, who informed Marino that students are not permitted to ride their bikes to school.

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"Unbeknownst to us there is a policy," she said, "but it wasn't in any of the brochures given to us."

School officials took her son's bike and stored it in the boiler room. They told her she would have to return with a car to retrieve the bike later in the day.

For Marino and her family, which recently pedaled from Buffalo to Albany along the Erie Canal trail way, the policy is at odds with other attitudes in the city.

"What I'm looking for, at least for right now, is that a child accompanied by an adult could ride their bike to Maple Ave. (Middle School)," she said. "Hopefully they will create a better scenario for kids to walk and bike."

The school's reason for the no-biking policy is primarily one of safety, Principal Stuart Byrne said.

"I would be a nervous wreck every day if kids were riding to school," he said. "Traffic isn't bumper to bumper, but it's non-stop. My personal hunch is that a sheriff or a state trooper could make a living out here." He said the district's policy does not allow students to ride or walk to schools outside of the city's urban core.

While traffic is one concern, Byrne said he also worries about children traveling unsupervised through the community. He noted that students are under school supervision until they are dropped off by the bus or picked up at the end of the day.

"If you look at the North Broadway route that the parent used that day: (Even if) there were going to be some exceptions or monitoring (to allow riding to school), you're still going into a substantially wooded area," he said. "I don't know how you say to the community at large that is a safe area."

He noted that, as in any other community, Saratoga Springs has its share of individuals who have served criminal sentences for abusing children. He pointed out an incident several years ago where John Regan attempted to abduct a student at Saratoga Springs High School.

"It's that one-time occurrence that will have everyone wringing their hands," Byrne said. "I'm a little conservative on this one. If anything happened, it would weigh on me for the rest of my life."

Superintendent Janice White did not return calls requesting comment. However, Marino said he had a conversation with White, who said the district would consider the policy.

While the community will have to consider security issues, there are other means to address traffic safety.

The New York State Department of Transportation manages a program called Safe Routes to School, which awards grant funding to school districts looking to improve pedestrian and bicycle access to schools.

The program encourages kids to walk or bike to school, said Raj Malhotra, program coordinator for the Capital Region NYS DOT. "Obesity is a big problem among children. It's an alternative transportation. It reduces pollution, saves money and improves the children's health," he said.

This year the DOT awarded $2 million in grant funds for transportation projects through the Safe Routes program, mostly to construct sidewalks, Malhotra said.

Any school district can apply for funds, but Malhotra said Saratoga Springs had not.

"I personally encouraged them to apply, but I was told that the school board policy considered it unsafe to walk or bike, and the policy is only to bus (kids to and from school)," he said.

Malhotra said a key to changing the attitude is to reach out to members of the school board.

"This could happen; they should be ready to ask for funding in the next round. Our program is around for anyone who needs it," he said.

Another project that aims to improve transportation to and from a school is the Geyser Road Trail.

Saratoga County Supervisor Matthew Veitch, an advocate of the trail, said the planned path will run down the north side of Geyser Road.

Veitch said the trail is mostly funded through private donations, as well as a member item from Assemblyman Jim Tedisco. When completed, the trail will run from the Milton town line and connect with Rail Road Run.

In the meantime, parents and students should be aware that riding to some city schools is not an option under existing rules, at least for the time being. Still, Marino said she didn't feel it was the school's place to tell her how to bring her child to school.

"I did feel like my rights as a parent were being jeopardized or questioned. Other parents drive their kids to school, so I should be able to ride my child to school," she said.